MSHSAA All Access Podcast

Last spring The Missouri State High School Activities Association participated in the Missouri Sports Travel Exchange conference and during some down time we visited with several community leaders discussing the topic of Sports Tourism, specifically when it comes to the MSHSAA championships and festivals. In this episode some individuals have moved onto other positions, however this round table discussion still holds relevance today and may give some insight on how MSHSAA determines venues and locations for the championships.

What is 'eligibility' when discussing high school activities and how does the Missouri State High School Activities Association determine a students eligibility status? What parameters are used to define an eligible athlete, band member, cheerleader, etc.? Throughout this season we will routinely incorporate episodes from a new series explaining student eligibility and give an in-depth look at the Student Essential By-Laws developed by the MSHSAA member schools to help members navigate determining a students ability to participate in interscholastic sports and activities.

Tune in to our latest episode of the MSHSAA All-Access Podcast as we celebrate August 12, 2024, the official first allowable practice day for our fall sports. It’s what we like to call the symbolic first day of the activities and athletics school year. Join Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Rukstad as she extends a heartfelt thank you to the coaches, student-athletes, referees and fans who contribute tirelessly to the success of high school athletics. This episode is a tribute to the hard work and dedication that make these events possible. Get ready to kick off the 2024-25 school year with enthusiasm and a deep appreciation for the entire MSHSAA community!

It's time to wrap up the Spring Championship season and talk about the 40th MSHSAA Girls Soccer Championships! This year was full of special stories and some teams were able to celebrate their first ever trip to the final four in spectacular fashion! Listen for all the highlights as we go through each class and how all the teams finished.

It's the final stretch! Buckle up and hang on because there is a lot to unpack in this episode as we highlight one of our last championships of the 2024 Spring Season - the MSHSAA Baseball Championships! Held in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri the best 24 teams gave all they had in their fight for the 'ship! Find out who won, who made their first trip ever and what we can expect next year all right here!

After membership voting, Boys Volleyball became a MSHSAA sport, and we are thrilled to celebrated the 1st Annual MSHSAA Boys Volleyball Championship during this episode! Four teams met one one court to determine this years first MSHSAA Champion, how did we get here, what are the plans for the future? There are some exciting things happening in our state, listen as we celebrate this historical event and the student athletes that participated!

All but one of the sports and activities offered interscholastically to the students in Missouri have a single defining season. Missouri is unique as it is one of the few states that offer both Fall and Spring seasons in the sport of Softball. Fall Softball is the dominant season in Missouri with four classifications competing for a Championship whereas Spring Softball has only two classes. In this episode we'll dive a little deeper into the Spring Championship, how did the teams perform and give a little more insight into this spectacular event!

It's a mad dash to the finish!! We only have a few wrap up episodes left from the 2024 spring Championship season and in this episode we will highlight our two weekends of Track & Field Championships. Hang on tight as we fly through all the key moments, review team finishes, and recognize the amazing athletes that had a part in the 2024 championships!!

Missouri has one of the best tennis complexes in the nation and we are lucky to have the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield, Missouri as the host of the Girls and Boys Tennis Championships! In this episode we will take a swing at highlighting all the action over the two separate competitions starting with all the winners from the Singles & Doubles Championships and then recap our Teams Tennis Championships. We will also review some interesting statistics in regards to returning and new teams! You'll just 'LOVE' this episode!

Starting off our spring sports championship wrap up episodes is the 2024 Boys Golf Championships Review! This years golfers saw plenty of challenges and managed to overcome with some spectacular and tight competition. Find out where this years tournaments were held, how did the competitors finish, and what special accolades were made by this group of boys golfers!

Our last Spring Activity Championship is a true battle of the minds! In this episode we talk with State Tournament Director, Scott Brinker, as we revisit the 2024 MSHSAA Scholar Bowl Championships. This year we welcomed some newcomers to their first ever Championship appearance along with some of our usual contenders. If we learned anything during this event it is that we have some amazingly talented and informed students in Missouri! Listen as we talk about all the winners and recap how each class played out!

Thousands of students arriving at the University of Missouri in late April can mean only one thing - the start of the MSHSAA State Music Festival! While students practice in any open space available, inside or out, our State Festival Adjudicators are listening to performances, directors are giving their last bits of instruction, friends and family are celebrating and congratulating a job well done, and lifelong memories are made during these three days of organized chaos! Listen as we review this year's festival and talk with a very special guest that represents the many, many talented students in our state!

Our final Championship of year and the official start of summer for our student athletes is the Girls Soccer Championships. Over two days 16 teams will play an overall total of 16 games to determine the the next four Girls Soccer Champions! All the details about the where, when and who can be found in our final Championship Preview for the 2023-24 school year!

Nothing says Memorial Day Weekend like Baseball!! This episode will highlight our Spring Baseball Championships currently held in Ozark, MO. Find out how the tournament is scheduled, what improvements have been made to make this event better than ever and who helps us make this a special moment for all the teams and fans!

This episode podcast will highlight one of the few sports offered in two different seasons, the Spring Softball Championships! Although this championship has two seasons there is a noticeable difference from the Fall. Listen and find out why there are two seasons, what is different about the spring championship and more!

In this episode we are celebrating the 1st Inaugural 2024 MSHSAA Boys Volleyball Championship! Four teams will play to earn their place in the record book as the first teams to participate in our newest sport to make the move to interscholastic! Listen and share our excitement as we highlight our next event!

The MSHSAA Track & Field Championships can best be described as two days of pure pandemonium, with activity bustling all around, Thousands of volunteers, officials, spectators and athletes will transcend on Jefferson City High Schools campus over the next two weekends as we prepare for our next set of Champions! Organization and details are key! Listen as we talk about how we hurdle over one of our largest Championship events of the year and find out everything you need to know.

As we near closer to the end of the school year we celebrate another upcoming Championship - the 96th Boys Tennis Championships! In this episode we will talk about some changes coming into the 2024-2025 school year as we prepare for this seasons Individual & Doubles Tournament and the Teams Tournament. Find out more about our next Championship and what modifications we are making to make this event the best it can be!

It's time to talk about our first Spring Sport Championship - Boys Golf! We will be at five different locations across Missouri hosting this two-day tournament, so listen as we talk about how athletes qualify, where our sites will be this spring and so much more!

The 2024 Speech, Debate and Theatre Championships was full of uplifting and awe-inspiring moments. Everything about this event is truly spectacular. In this episode we will highlight how a few scheduling changes benefited the students and schools along with what changes will come in the future. Find out which schools had the next round of Champions awarded and more about how we facilitate such a large event.

It's a battle of the minds for our next Spring Championship - 24 teams will meet on the University of Missouri Campus for the 28th MSHSAA Scholar Bowl Championships! What exactly is Scholar Bowl? How does MSHSAA determine the champion? We go over all the details and more in this episode where we highlight the brightest in Missouri!

It's time for the largest Championship event MSHSAA hosts - the State Music Festival!! Thousands of students will perform one final time in attempt to earn the highest rating, a GOLD medal! Dr. Jennifer Rukstad visits with James Melton as we get ready for three days of harmonious sounds that will fill the University of Missouri Campus. Find out more about our next upcoming Championship and exactly how this amazing event comes together.

It's Spring! Our first activity to start off the Championship season is the 71st annual MSHSAA Speech, Debate and Theatre Championships!!

The last of the Winter Championship season saw classes 4, 5 & 6 converge on the University of Missouri, Mizzou Arena, on the hunt for the Show-Me Showdown Championship trophy. In this podcast episode we look at everything from game results, player stats, team history and more as we share some key moments from this historical event!

As we wrap up our final Winter Championship review series, we take a look back at our first week of the Show-Me Showdown Championships, the Class 1, 2, and 3 State Basketball Championships. Relive all the memories and find out how our State Championships new format and venue impacted this years 'ship!

It's time to vote! The 2024 MSHSAA Annual Ballot is now available for schools to submit their votes during our governance period of our the year. There are many topics being presented to our member schools to consider, find out what is on the horizon for the association and what changes are being considered as we prepare for the 2024-2025 school year.

In this podcast episode we reminisce over the 2024 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships. Dr. Rukstad, MSHSAA Executive Director sits down with Daryl Bradley, MSHSAA Assistant Executive and Jason West, MSHSAA Communications Director, to review everything from team finishes for each class to behind the scenes on exactly what is involved in running this spectacular event!

There is a lot to celebrate in Missouri when it comes to Girls Swimming & Diving! We had several records broken in the Girls Class 2 Swimming Championships and joining us on our wrap up podcast is the Rockhurst Boys Swim Coach, Paul Winkeler. who was recently named the national 2022-23 NFHS Boys Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year! We'll highlight all the winners and share some of our favorite stories from 49th Annual Girls Swimming & Diving Championships!

The stage is set! It's time to talk about our next upcoming Championships - The MSHSAA Show Me Showdown Basketball Championships! What's new this year? Well, quite a bit actually! In this episode we share all the details from dates to location and everything else leading up to the Championships!

The Area Meetings are an annual process in the MSHSAA governance procedures, where MSHSAA executives visit with school administrators at each of our Board Districts and present topics the MSHSAA Office and Board of Directors are seeking the opinions on from its membership. In this episode we will briefly summarize many of the topics we presented in January and explain a little more about this key process within the association.

It's time for the Big Show! The 2024 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships are just around the corner and thousands of athletes will converge on Mizzou Arena for an epic showcase of champions! Tune in as we get ready for the 94th Boys Wrestling Championships and the 6th Girls Wrestling Championships where legendary battles lie ahead!

The first Championship of the Winter season is the Girls Swimming & Diving Championships. The 49th Championship will feature 11 swimming events and a diving championship over the course of three days for 2 separate classifications. Listen as we share more details and behind the scenes sneak peek into this upcoming Championship!

It's our final Championship Review for the 2023 Fall season! In this episode we recap all 7 games from this year's championship from scores and stats to key moments from each game. Join us and listen as we wrap up our final fall championship!

The 56th MSHSAA Boys Soccer Championships involved a good mix of new or fairly new teams to the championship along with some well seasoned returnee's. Held in Fenton, MO at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park - this years Championships had its fill of excitement, thrills and nail biting moments! In this episode we will review all of the championship results and highlight team and player statistics!

Diving into our next Championship review we will discuss all the highlights and special mo0ments from our 2023 MSHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving Championships! Joining us on this wrap up episode is St. Louis University High School Head Swimming Coach, Lindsey Ehret. Listen as she visits with us as we go over this historic event!

Held at the beautiful Gans Creek Recreation Center in Columbia, MO, the 2023 Boys and Girls Cross Country Championships took place over the course of two days of great weather and even faster competition! In this episode we'll go over the race winners, team finishes and talk all things cross country when it comes to this spectacular event!

The 49th MSHSAA Girls Volleyball Championships saw lots of newcomers along with some returning volleyball power houses come together for some smoking hot competition! In this episode we'll go over all of the final results, highlight some historical facts regarding school programs and talk about some of our favorite moments from this years Championship!

The 48th MSHSAA Fall Softball Championships was an absolute nail biter from start to finish. This championship had it all! Packed full of highs and lows from questionable weather all weekend to some first Championship appearance celebrations, this was certainly a spectacular 2 days. Listen as we look back at all the action!

The 2023 MSHSAA Girls Golf Championships was definitely one for the record books! With two golfers earning a hole in one to a new state record, we recap our Fall Girls Golf Championships and go over each class of results and team finishes. Listen for a special addition as we included the top five finishers from one of our locations to talk about their experience at the Championships.

Our last Championship preview - The 2023 Show Me Bowl Football Championships! Held on the University of Missouri Faurot Field, the Show Me Bowl is going to be three full days of high school football! Listen to find out schedule information, a little information of our current postseason structure and more!

Our first championship of the year was also a first for new Associate Executive Director, James Melton. In this episode we will give an overview of the results for each class of competition, share some interesting facts about our schools and their history in the sport of tennis, and even talk with a student athlete and get her perspective on what making it to the State Championships was like for her.

Only a few fall Championships remain! In this episode we talk about the Boys Soccer Championships coming up on November 17th and 18th, held at Worldwide Technology Soccer Park. St. Louis hasn't always been home to the Championships and in this podcast we'll visit past venues, share a little about the current venue and our event schedule.

The 87th Annual MSHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving Championships scheduled for November 9-11 at the St. Peter's Rec Plex, is an amazing event packed full of action! In this episode we talk about how athletes qualify for both the swimming and diving portions of the event, why the event is hosted in St. Peters and so much more!

This weekend hundreds of athletes and thousands of spectators will descend upon the Gans Creek Recreation Area to participate in the MSHSAA 2023 Cross Country Championships! Dr. Jennifer Rukstad, Doug Fessler, and MSHSAA CFO/COO Craig Long, sit down and give a brief history and explanation of our upcoming championship as we prepare for yet another beautiful weekend of athletics!

It's time to bump, set, dig and dive as we prepare for another MSHSAA Championship! In this episode Dr. Jennifer Rukstad visits with Associate Executive Director, Toni Hill, the newest executive to oversee the Volleyball Championships. Get all the details as they highlight our upcoming 49th Girls Volleyball Championships!

Pitching into our next Championship Preview we bring you the 2023 MSHSAA Fall Softball Championship! 20 teams representing 5 classes will land in Springfield, MO to participate in the 48th MSHSAA Fall Softball Championship at Killian Softball Complex. Listen as we highlight this upcoming championship!

A hot topic being discussed throughout High School Basketball is the decision to incorporate the "Shot Clock". Dr. Jennifer Rukstad and Asst. Executive Director, Doug Fessler, explain further what other states are doing, how they feel about implementing the use of the shot clock, how do schools participate, etc. as we prepare the membership for an upcoming survey.

In this episode we talk about our upcoming Girls Golf Championships! Find out how athletes qualify for the State Championships, what courses will we be using this year, and other important details surrounding the event. Dr. Jennifer Rukstad and Assistant Executive Director, Doug Fessler, discuss all the details in this championship preview!

The first Championship of the year is almost here! In this podcast episode we sit down with one of the newest Executive Directors, James Melton, as he prepares for the 49th Girls Tennis Individual Championships, followed by the Girls Team Tennis Championships. Both held in Springfield, MO at Copper Tennis Complex.

Ever wonder how a Championship location is determined? What process does MSHSAA have when selecting a site? What kinds of things are taken into account when making that decision? In this podcast episode we visit with the MSHSAA Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operations Officer, Craig Long, as he explains the how, what and why when it comes to locating a home for the MSHSAA Championships.